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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Martinu - The complete music for violin and orchestra Volume 4
Bohuslav Matoušek (violin) Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Christopher Hogwood This recording is the last volume of a four-disc survey of Martinu’s complete output for solo violin and orchestra, including compositions with other solo instruments. They are performed here by the orchestra in which Martinuo played the violin, the distinguished Czech violinist Bohuslav Matoušek who is one of the foremost living exponents of this music, and conductor Christopher Hogwood. Martinu’s Violin Concerto No. 1 was written for the celebrated Polish-born American violinist Samuel Dushkin. Although immediately appealing to the performer, its premiere was delayed due to the volatile European political situation in the thirties, and the score was lost during World War II when Martinuo was forced to hide his autographs in Europe and flee to the USA. The score was discovered in 1968 and the work did not receive its premiere until 1973. It is a dazzling, virtuoso work, revealing the influence of Dushkin’s violin playing, especially his liking for technical display. The Violin Concerto No. 2 is different from its predecessor both stylistically and in terms of its fate. It was commissioned by Mishca Elman (1891–1967), a famous American violinist of Ukrainian origin. The work’s main characteristics recall the qualities of Elman’s playing, notably his unique sound, his preference for noble and elegant melodies, his exceptional feeling for the sonority of his instrument, his love of slow tempos, and his rich use of rubato and portamento. Bohuslav Matoušek demonstrates his great versatility in idiomatic performances of these contrasting works. “In these beautifully recorded performances, both Christopher Hogwood and Bohuslav Matoušek have a profound understanding of Martinu's style and the Czech Philharmonic response with radiant playing…” BBC Music Magazine, September 2008 ***** “The final set in Hyperion's Martinu survey brings us more excellent playing.” Gramophone Magazine, 2008 Awards Issue “Martinu's two violin concertos have very different histories. The First was created for Dushkin in 1931, much tinkered with over the next few years and then 'lost' until unearthed in 1968.
The Second (1943) was written in just two months for Mischa Elman, premiered before the year was out and taken up by several violinists soon afterwards, often being programmed unnumbered until its predecessor came to light.
Josef Suk set the benchmark for both but his recordings, still in the Supraphon catalogue, have been overtaken by this newcomer and, in No 2, by Isabelle Faust's superb recent account (see below). Matoušek and Hogwood certainly have the measure of both scores and in the Second run Faust and Belohlávek close. Couplings may prove decisive; one recommendation is for the Hyperion set as a whole. Strongly recommended.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Martinu - Violin Concerto No. 2
Isabelle Faust (violin) & Cedric Tiberghien (piano) The Prague Philharmonia, Jirí Belohlávek Long overshadowed by the reputation of his
Bohemian compatriots Smetana, Dvorák and Janácek,
Bohuslav Martinu is at last enjoying his fair share of
the limelight.The three works presented on this
recording display the Czech composer's endless
creativity within the framework of a vivid concertante
language. Isabelle Faust, Cédric Tiberghien & Jiri
Belohlavek renew the succesful partnerships that brought us superb recordings of Dvorak and Brahms.
Gramophone Magazine gave Isabelle Faust its Young Artist of the Year Award for her first recording of
sonatas by Béla Bartók, in 1997. Since then she has appeared with all the major orchestras.
Cedric Tiberghien's international career took off as he became a BBC New Generation Artist. For harmonia
mundi, he has recorded four recitals, and more recently Brahms' Concerto No. 1 with the BBC Symphony
Orchestra, conducted by Jirí Belohlávek. “Isabelle Faust is a lyrical soloist, and also finds plenty of energy to convey the rhythmic play of the finale. The other concertante work here is for piano, and Cédric Tiberghien is receptive to its neo-Baroque sensibility.
The Prague Philharmonia under Jirí Belohlávek provides idiomatic support, and the strings shine in the one other work here, the short Serenáda No 2 from Martinu's playful Paris years.” The Telegraph, 7th June 2008 “Martinu's Second Violin Concerto is one of his greatest works in the genre. From her very first entry, Isabelle Faust shows a strong feeling for the work's dramatic ebb and flow, and in the supremely beautiful slow movement achieves heights of eloquence. Belohlávek provides magnificently flexible accompaniment and a clear vision of the work's broadly developed structure.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2008 ***** “… this brilliant new account of the Second Concerto (1943), played with verve and a real feeling for the idiom by Isabelle Faust. … her sweet, precise tones allows Martinu's angular lyricism… open out for maximum appeal.” Gramophone Magazine, August 2008 “Hot on the heels of Hyperion's series of Martinu's works for violin and orchestra (see above) comes this brilliant new account of the Second Concerto (1943), played with verve and a real feeling for the idiom by Isabelle Faust.
What a fine player of the modern repertoire she is and her sweet, precise tone allows Martinu's angular lyricism – or is that lyrical angularity? – to open out for maximum appeal. Superbly supported by the Prague Philharmonia under Belohlávek, this is as brilliantly played an account as has appeared on disc.
Orchestra and conductor are heard to excellent effect in the other major work, the Toccata edue canzoni (1946). Written for Paul Sacher, this invigorating cross between chamber symphony and concerto grosso (though with an extensive piano part, played with nicely suggestive power by Cédric Tiberghien) is both a product of its time – catching the relief, horror and war-weariness in equal measure – and a timeless classic.
Yet through its many dramatic moments Martinu's radiant humanism, overtly displayed in the Concerto, shines through. Despite some slight scratchiness of ensemble and tuning in the upper strings in the opening pages, this is a strong performance, taut and purposeful.
Sandwiched between the two is the delightful Second Serenade (1932), scored for string orchestra and inhabiting the joyful folk world of the ballet palícek. Thrown off with élan, music and performance spotlight the splendid engineering that is an unobtrusive delight of this excellent disc. Recommended.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Martinu - Violin Concertos & Rhapsody-Concerto
Josef Suk (violin/viola) Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Vaclav Neumann Legendary, critically acclaimed Suk recordings of Martinù’s concertos in newly re-mastered form. In 1973, together with the conductor Georg Solti, Josef Suk premiered Martinù’s first violin concerto in Chicago. This 'Paris-era' concerto was originally written for the famous violinist Samuel Dushkin. However, it was later mislaid, only to be rediscovered and premiered some 40 years later. Josef Suk was a sound choice for the concerto’s second life; his 1973 recording with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra (together with Martinù’s second, “American”, violin concerto) won great accolades, including the Grand Prix du disque de l’Academie Charles Cros. In the wake of the two violin concertos, Rhapsody-Concerto for Viola and Orchestra could be deemed the third part of a trilogy written in the post-war chapter of Martinù’s life. Suk’s legendary recordings, newly re-mastered, are released in the year marking the 80th birthday of the violinist and the 50th anniversary of the composer’s death. “In these excellently remastered recordings… Suk is confirmed as a front runner still and his approach in No 2 makes fascinating listening when compared to Isabelle Faust's superb account. In the Rhapsody-Concerto, with even finer sound, Suk is very competitive compared to Matoušek's full-price version.” Gramophone Magazine, September 2009 “Suk embraces both the acerbic world of the First Concerto, and its more lyrical successor with deep-toned conviction. He's just as convincing on the viola in the more diffuse Rhapsody-Concerto.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2009 ***** | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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| |  | Jennifer Koh - Portraits
Jennifer Koh (violin) Grant Park Orchestra, Carlos Kalmar | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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Josef Suk (violin and viola) Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Vaclav Neumann | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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| |  | Saint-Saëns & Martinu: Violin Concertos
Katrin Scholz (violin) Hamburger Symphoniker, Sebastian Lang-Lessing | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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